Turks and Caicos Islands launches Border Force
The Ministry of Immigration and Border Services in Turks and Caicos has taken a significant step forward in enhancing border security with the launch of the first phase of Turks and Caicos Islands Border Force. Border Force will see the transformation of the legacy Customs Department, Immigration Department, and Work Permit Unit, with all areas brought together to form one dynamic, responsive and flexible approach to managing TCI’s border protection. The threats to TCI’s borders have
grown significantly in recent years and transforming the way the borders are operated will put the TCI in a better position to be able to respond to threats and challenges while facilitating legitimate trade, visitors and residents. Leading the charge is the newly appointed Director General, Emilio Seymour, who will oversee the suite of changes being made over the next six months, and beyond. An evidence-based, redesigned structure will allow better targeting and flexing of resources, alongside a clear focus on customer service delivery, with three main operational areas; inland operations, port operations and a separate ‘services’ function – all underpinned and supported by a new Intelligence Unit. In the immediate future Border Force will deliver border protection services, and enforces the laws, across four of the Islands that comprise of the TCI. The new organisation is expected to be rolled out a number of phases over the year.
ROSEAU, Dominica — The Customs and Excise Division, together with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Agriculture, and Digitised Solutions Ltd., is thrilled to unveil the pilot phase of TradeStream – Dominica. The platform promises to be a game-changer, offering a multi-agency collaborative workflow that optimizes the import licence procedure and Plant Quarantine cargo inspection at Roseau, Dominica’s main cargo port. Further enhancing user experience, the platform integrates with the Government of Dominica’s online payment service to enable hassle-free payment of Customs Taxes and other services offered on TradeStream.
The 45th Conference of the Caribbean Customs Law Enforcement Council (CCLEC) was held in the Cayman Islands from June 5-9, 2023. Twenty-five member administrations and a number of strategic partners attended the conference which took place at the Westin Hotel hosted with the full support of the Director and staff of the Customs Border Control Service.
In observance of International Customs Day, the WCO’s theme for 2023 is “Nurturing the next generation: promoting a culture of knowledge-sharing and professional pride in Customs.” This theme is very relevant to the Customs fraternity in the region and the CCLEC is committed to working with member administrations to build capacity in keeping with this goal.
I wish to take this opportunity to extend greetings to all member administrations as we usher in the New Year. 2023 will be a pivotal year for the Caribbean Customs community as we work together to restore our position on the regional landscape particularly in law enforcement, contributing to border security, efficiency in trade matters and effective revenue protection and collection.
Congratulations to the Customs fraternity on this special day which has been designated as International Customs Day by the WCO. This year the chosen theme, “Scaling up Customs Digital Transformation by Embracing a Data Culture and Building a Data Ecosystem,” is very fitting as the pandemic has acted as a most powerful catalyst to force many countries to accept technology as a fundamental part of their business culture.
